Shopsmith Forums

well, now I am upset, BAD NEWS! I snapped the head of the 1/4 inch bolt/screw off inside there, where the last commenter was describing that part being between 7 and 11.... where do I go from here and WHAT WAS IT?

It "sounds" like you snapped the retaining bolt that holds the eccentric in place. but it's hard to tell. Snap a pic of it. If this is the case you can drill and retap a new hole pretty easy. But take a pic and we'll know for sure.

ya, it holds that funny shaped thing on, that the guy referred to leaving at between 7 and 11.

On a side note what do I actually turn to tighten up the belt?

yup, that is exactly what I did, I broke off the screw which held two washers on, the screw WENT through the eccentric I think it is? The horseshoe looking thing (sorta horseshoe) wrapped around the idle shaft I think it is called.

HOWEVER I did figure out the right thing to tighten this time, and I have the belt much tighter... so when I figure out this snapped off screw I should be in business.

I had an old A headstock and Bill Mayo helped me out with switching from the tangs to the screw to hold it in. I'm at work right now and I don't remember the sizes but I drilled a hole and tapped it for the screw and washer. It was easy peasy. I'm sure you could drill a new hole on the opposite side and tap it. If noone else comes up with the drill and tap sizes I'll look and let you know later today.

jcraigie wrote:I had an old A headstock and Bill Mayo helped me out with switching from the tangs to the screw to hold it in. I'm at work right now and I don't remember the sizes but I drilled a hole and tapped it for the screw and washer. It was easy peasy. I'm sure you could drill a new hole on the opposite side and tap it. If noone else comes up with the drill and tap sizes I'll look and let you know later today.

I have a friend in the Radio Control club that has a personal metal shop and I think I can con him to come over and check it out, if anyone can do it, he should be able to as well.

It wasn't hard just make sure you stay centered in the aluminum and don't over tighten it when your done...snug it up don't gorrilla grip it And watch the metal shavings when drilling and tapping don't get them in your innards.

From your video, you do not have an "A" headstock. It is a "B" headstock.

You mentioning breaking a 1/4" screw has me concerned. I hope that screw is much smaller. You do not have the retaining clips that were used on an "A" headstock. I do not understand what you are referring to as horse shoe like shaped.
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I hope the screw that broke off is the one under the washer at the top of this pic.

The screw near the bottgom needs to be loosened to move the eccentric.

The slot in the pic at atbout 6:30 is the slot to be used with a screwdriver to rotate the eccentric.

Do NOT use a gorilla grip when tightening the screw at the bottom. Those ears break off easifly if the screw is overtightened.

Are those ears what you were referring to as horseshoe shaped?

mine is similar to that one, I went ahead and used that image to show you how mine differs, my not so magenta or dark magenta(hehehe) arrow points to the approximate location of the screw that I broke the head off of.



The head of the bolt/screw was 1/4 inch, I used a 1/4 inch socket to tighten it.

These holders fit on the bolt that tighten the eccentric bushing. I discard the items as they position the idler shaft too far toward the back of the headstock. This causes the Gilmer belt side to wear on the headstock casing and may slowly destroy the belt. I drill and tap a hole above the eccentric as shown and described in above posts and install a screw with a large body washer so the washer almost touchs the rotating idler shaft/bearing. This washer must cover the idler shaft bearing to prevent it coming out of the eccentric. I seat the bearing and eccentric againest the body washer. I tighten the belt (1/8" - 1/16" flex) by rotating the eccentric and check if the Gilmer belt is clearing the headstock housing. If not, then I move the idler shaft just a slight amount into the eccentric and retry. I keep the eccentric againest the body washer at all times. Do not forget to tighten the bolt holding the eccentric bushing but do not overtighten the eccentric bolt as a casing ear could break destroying the headstock casing.

I also use the larger body washer to hold the eccentric bushing and idler shaft bearing on all Poly_V headstocks for the same reason.